Project: House in Florianopolis
Architects: Una Arquitetos
Location: Florianopolis, Brazil
Area: 2,906 sf
Photographs by: Courtesy of Una Arquitetos
House in Florianopolis by Una Arquitetos
Una Arquitetos – a Brazilian studio, has completed the House in Florianopolis house, a project designed for one of their friends. This two-story contemporary residence is located on the south part of the Santa Catarina Island, in the town of Florianopolis. Offering almost 3,000 square feet of living spaces, this home gets in touch with its surroundings through the many openings that expose its modern interior.
This house is the second project we´ve made for friends (the first one was a house in Joinville, where they live). Located on the south part of the island, facing the sea, at Morro das Pedras beach, the site is in a condominium of small plots of land.
House is completely opened at ground floor level, as a shadow to outdoor activities. It extends towards the swimming pool area, shelters eating and hammocks rooms, connecting horizontally streets, garden and sea. Vertically, a double height hall connects both living rooms.
All hydraulic installations are concentrated on the small masonry block. On the ground floor: laundry, woodstove, surf boards and beach equipment deposits. On the upper level, bathrooms and kitchen. This volume also contains a staircase that steers towards the facilities bellow, access level and bedrooms and living room above. This opaque construction protects house from strong west sun and from neighbours’ views. Furthermore it is supports timber structure_ all of that made of garapeira wood.
The timber structure (15 tons) weighs less than 10% of total concrete volume (115 tons), even with an area 4 times larger. House was designed in pre-fabricated wood in order to induce less impact on the site and ensure quality and low cost of the work. Because of the distance, this assembly was also a strategy to ensure precision at work.
Local builders made all production, pre-fabrication and assembling of structure. Conception of columns reinforces idea of a suspended house, reducing base points and concentrating foundations. This strategy further expands the terrace out.
Construction thought as assembly: timber floor in horizontal plans, metallic panels with insulating thermo-acoustic on the roof, plaster panels indoors, wooden window frames and glass as sealing.
Entire upper volume is surrounded by a translucent plastic protection that resists salt air, stops excessive sun and south winds that carries sand, the same that forms dunes on the beach. This element allows the passage of controlled light and permanent ventilation. A horizontal tear in the eye level establishes a direct visual connection with the sea, a compliment to the horizon, as opposed to a small fold in the main facade of the plan. At night, light is reversed and the house exudes radiance, as a small beacon.
